You have to learn the fundraising rules39. A reference to Interplay Ventures’ Mark Peter Davis’ book (The Fundraising Rules).
Seriously, VCs40. A reference to TechCrunch Co-Founder Keith Teare’s blog (Seriously VC). will take advantage of you if you snooze on it
And there’s one lab rat cliché that is true no matter how you slice it:41. A reference to on-demand insurance cloud platform provider Slice Labs which raised $20M in 2018.
You gotta be ready to be brook42. A wordplay with “broke” and a reference to Massachusetts-based Brook Venture Partners. as an entrepreneur
The dream of living in a great house43. A reference to Rincon Venture Partners’ John Greathouse. vanishes once you quit your job
Forget about building prototypes and Minimum Viable Products
What you’ll really be building is your Minimum Viable Porridge44. A reference to the tech industry’s MVP (Minimum Viable Product) concept from Lean Startup that stresses the impact of learning in new product development.
The hard thing about hard things45. A reference to Ben Horowitz’s book (The Hard Thing About Hard Things). is trying to run a venture at 5AM46. A reference to California-based venture capital firm 5AM Ventures.
When your new enterprise is sinking, your associates47. A reference to Maryland-based venture firm New Enterprises Associates (NEA). are leaving
And the rest of your capital sure ain’t thriving48. A reference to New York-based venture capital firm Thrive Capital.
Like so many leade.rs49. A reference to Loic Le Meur’s Leader.s which is a platform that discovers and promotes leading entrepreneurs and investors. Leader.s was acquired by Animoca in 2019. I solved a need and I had that Oh shit! moment
But after 16 weeks trying to recode50. A reference to Silicon Valley tech publication Recode. The '16 weeks' mention is a reference to the 16 months it took for the publication to be acquired by Vox Media. According to Wikipedia, Recode launched in January 2014 and Vox Media acquired it in May 2015. my solution, I had that Oh shit! moment
My Zen time ended with no benefits51. A reference to San Francisco-based HR management startup Zenefits.
I went from zero to one to negative infinity52. A reference to Peter Thiel’s bestselling book Zero To One.
53. A reference to APAC-focused Infinity Venture Partners.
With an Altman Z-score54. A reference to Y Combinator’s Sam Altman. In the investment world, the Altman Z-score is an index for predicting bankruptcy that defied any logic
I felt like Jason when Charlie threw him under that Brooklyn bridge55. A reference to Brooklyn Bridge Ventures.
56. A reference to Brooklyn Bridge Ventures’ Charlie O'Donnell's hard-hitting feedback on Mattermark’s Jason Rowley’s post “Venture Capital Is Boring”.
Completely baffled like an AI device taking a selfie in a mirror57. A reference to New York-based IA Ventures. The letters are inverted in the diary entry because of the selfie in front of the mirror.
Everything looked inverted, there was no more spark on my soft clavier58. A reference to Boston and San Francisco-based Spark Capital.59. A reference to Palo Alto-based Softech VC (now known as Uncork Capital).
60. A reference to SoftTech VC’s Jeff Clavier.
I had nightmares of being stuck in a FB elevator with that shark from Jaws61. In May 2016, it was reported that twelve Facebook employees were trapped in an elevator for nearly 2 hours. Firefighters had to use a special tool called the “Jaws of Life” to rescue them.
Camping alone in Queensbridge with no partner62. A reference to Queensbridge Venture Partners which was co-founded by rapper-turned-investor Nas. and depressed
Playing Hendricks with my guitar and covering old songs with my pipe63. A reference to Richard Hendricks, a famous character of HBO’s hit show Silicon Valley.64. A reference to Richard Hendricks’ startup Pied Piper in Silicon Valley.
With my big freaking nose in a bottle looking like a double F65. A reference to New York-based FF Venture Capital. The double F points to a double failure.
It was like Theranos trying to link up with Lynda and failing the test66. A reference to healthcare corporation Theranos which ended up suspending its tests due to a major fraud scandal.67. A reference to LinkedIn.
68. A reference to learning startup Lynda (now LinkedIn Learning) and its course tutorial.
I couldn’t even cut corners and bend69. A reference to Bend Venture Conference (BVC), the largest Angel Conference in the West. my income, that was impossible
Instead, I had to realize the truth: there was no income70. A reference to The Matrix’ popular line “Do not try to bend the spoon. That’s impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth: There is no spoon”.The struggle is real when you and your brand don’t have any capital71. A reference to APAC-based Brand Capital.
I thought that a precursor72. A reference to San Francisco-based Precursor Ventures. idea and a laung73. A reference to REFASHIOND Ventures’ Managing Partner Brian Laung Aoaeh. trail of innovation footprints74. A reference to Brian Laung Aoaeh’s blog (Innovation Footprints).
Would attract collaborating funding75. A reference to New York-based Collaborative Fund. from the Charles and Hudson76. A reference to Precursor Ventures’s Managing Partner Charles Hudson. rivers
Nobody prepared me for this sabotage, I went past the red tipping point77. A reference to Sabotage Institute (formerly Sabotage VC), the tech investment vehicle of Andy Powers' family office.78. A reference to South Carolina-based Red Ventures.
79. A reference to New York-based Tipping Point Partners.
This was a real struggle: forcing myself to burst my own Bobble80. A wordplay and a reference to bursting Silicon Valley’s tech bubble and Bob’s own mental bubble (“Bobble”).
And addressing the backstage81. A reference to Arlan Hamilton’s Backstage Capital, a fund that invests in "underestimated founders. issues that landed me in big trouble
Like focusing on a venture hyper82. A reference to Hyper Ventures. instead of building a revenue stream
See, running a startup is like writing poetry: half grinding, half amazing83. A reference to the lyrics of Hip Hop artist turned investor Nas ("Half man, half amazing” from his classic song It Ain’t Hard To Tell.
You gotta make sure your lines of code rhyme with income mode
There is moore to entrepreneurship than just whistles and bell84. A reference to Base Ventures’ Erik Moore.
85. A reference to Marc Bell, founder of Marc Bell Capital.
If you run your ventures like Nas and Mitra
You don’t need not worry, you’ll excel86. A reference to Hip Hop artist Nas’ lyrics “I excel” from his classic song It Ain’t Hard To Tell.
87. A reference to Boston-based Excel Venture Management.
And your poetry is deep, you’ll never fail.89. A reference to Hip Hop artist Nas’ lyrics “My poetry is deep, I never fail” from his classic song It Ain’t Hard To Tell.